The Final Adventure
by Basil's Angel of Music
Summary: The Pirate with a Scarf has not returned to the boat, and the Pirate Captain begins to search frantically for him, only to hear from Charles Darwin that he has been arrested and is about to be hanged! Based on a dream I had while I was depressed. WARNING: Character death. I do NOT own any of the characters in this story. They belong to Aardman and Gideon Defoe.


The Pirate Captain searched frantically through the streets of London for the Pirate with a Scarf. He had been doing this all morning, but to him, it seemed like a whole year, and with each hour that passed, he grew more and more worried. The first mate had not returned to the boat with him and the rest of the crew the previous night, and the Captain assumed that maybe he had gotten lost, what with London being a huge city and all, and that he would eventually find his way back. But by the time morning had come, there was still no sign of him, and the Captain began to panic. Not even bothering to get any breakfast, get dressed or even to let the lads know where he was going, he immediately left the boat to look for his lost husband. For hours, he searched every street, every corner, every alleyway, but there was just no sign of the scarf-wearing pirate _anywhere_! He even called out to him as he searched, but received no answer. In fact, the only response he got was the puzzled looks from the lubbers who he just happened to pass on the streets during his search. Some even shouted abuse at him, but he paid no attention to any of the harsh comments that were thrown at him; the only thing on his mind right now was the Pirate with a Scarf, and he just _had _to find him, no matter what.

"Captain! Captain!" called another voice he had been hoping to hear soon. It might not have belonged to the Pirate with a Scarf, but it did belong to his good friend, Charles Darwin, who he fortunately bumped into during his search. He had told the little scientist what had happened and the two immediately split up, hoping that that would help them find the missing pirate quicker. Mightily relieved at hearing his friend's voice at long last, the Pirate Captain turned and saw Charles rushing up towards him. When he stopped just in front of him, the little man began to puff and wheeze heavily as sweat poured down his face. Evidently, like the Captain, he had been running for ages.

"You certainly took your sweet time!" said the Captain, understandably annoyed and frustrated at how long it had taken Charles to find him again.

"I'm sorry… Captain…" panted Charles, still out of breath. "But I've… found the Pirate with a Scarf…"

"Well, where is he?" he asked, but he got no answer, as the poor little scientist was still trying to get his breath back. His frustration growing, the Captain grabbed the smaller man by the arms. "Spit it out, man! Where is he!?" he demanded, shaking him violently.

"Newgate Prison, Captain!" answered Charles, shocked at the Captain's reaction. "He was arrested and kept there overnight. But we have to hurry. He's just been tried and sentenced."

"Sentenced?" repeated the Captain, the fear growing within him at the grim realisation which was now creeping up on him. "You don't mean…"

"Yes, Captain," replied Charles fearfully. "He's about to be hanged."

During his search, the Pirate Captain didn't think that his heart could beat any faster, but upon hearing those words, it began to beat so fast, that he felt it would explode in his chest for sure. "Oh, my God…" he simply breathed in utter disbelief. Releasing his grip he had on his friend, the Captain immediately dashed off through the streets of London once more, as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Captain! Wait!" called Charles, who was now running after him. "You don't know the way!"

The Captain skidded to a halt, which allowed Charles to catch up to him. The little scientist looked around the streets until, fortunately, a hansom cab up the street towards them. Charles eagerly waved his hand out as a signal for the cabby to stop. The cabby thankfully saw this and pulled the reigns on the horses he was steering, causing them to stop.

"Quick, Captain, get in!" said Charles urgently as they both got into the cab. "Newgate Prison! Quickly!" shouted the scientist to the driver.

"Very good, sir!" answered the cabby, before whipping the horses that were drawing the cab to get them to go trotting through London as fast as they could. On the way, both Charles and the Pirate Captain hoped that by the time they reached their destination, they wouldn't be too late.

When the cab finally reached Newgate Prison, Charles and the Captain both looked out the window. There was a large, angry looking crowd around the gallows, making a hell of a racket with their enraged shouting, booing and waving their fists in the direction of the condemned being lead up the stairs towards the gibbet. At first, the Captain couldn't see who it was because he had a large brown bag over his head, but when the executioner stopped the prisoner just in front of the noose, he pulled the bag off to reveal the Pirate with a Scarf underneath. The was a look of despair on his face as he looked at the angry mob around him, whose shouts got even louder and more venomous.

"Number Two!" gasped the Pirate Captain, immediately opening the cab door. "Charles, pay the man!" he said back to his friend, without even turning back to look at him as he got out of the cab and ran towards the crowd.

Charles anxiously counted the money his hands and handed it to the cabby before he too got out and followed the Captain towards the angry mob ahead. Just as the Captain had started to bustle his way through said mob with great difficulty towards his husband, who by now had the noose around his neck, all the booing and shouting ceased. The air was now filled with a deafening silence, broken only by the quiet, irritated muttering of those the Captain had to budge past.

"Pirate with a Scarf," addressed the hangman, reading from the large piece of paper in his hand. "You are convicted of the heinous crimes of piracy and homosexuality."

"Nancy scum!" shouted an angry voice from the crowd.

Looking up towards the bound pirate beside him, a look of anger and disgust in his eyes, the hangman then asked, "Do you have anything to say before you are consigned to Hell?"

"Only this," answered the Pirate with a Scarf quietly. A single tear falling down his face, he closed his eyes and lowered his head in sorrow as he continued, "I just wish I could've seen my dear Captain one last time."

This statement was not met by any amount of compassion. Instead, all the scarf-wearing pirate got was more verbal abuse being shouted at him from the crowd, but none of that seemed to phase him, not in the slightest. All the rabble around him was just white noise as all he could really acknowledge at that moment that this was his last ever moment in this life, but it wasn't that he regretted being captured and condemned to death in this fashion. Like he said, he regretted the fact he would now have to face it alone, without his dear Captain there to bring any form of comfort to him. Or so he thought.

Amongst the noise of the enraged crowd, he suddenly heard a familiar voice shouting, "Number Two!"

Taken completely by surprise at this sound, the Pirate with a Scarf's eyes shot open as he looked up in the direction the voice was coming from. Sure enough, in amongst all the bitter, hateful faces, was the Pirate Captain's own flustered one as he pushed his way through the crowd towards him.

The Captain didn't even take his eyes off the first mate as he continued to push his way through. Though his heart almost skipped a beat when those gorgeous ocean blue eyes met his at long last. Though what wrenched his heart even more was his husband's reaction upon seeing him there. He simply smiled.

The Pirate Captain just froze on the spot. Was he really seeing this? Was his beloved deputy really smiling at him? Now, at this moment in time? This was definitely _not _the sort of reaction he was expecting. At the very least, he would've expected him to give him one of those very annoyed "I told you so" looks, considering that his deputy had warned him many times that this would happen if the continued to be too open about their relationship. But he didn't, he just smiled lovingly down at him, as if happy that his last wish was granted.

His heart now racing even faster than before, the Captain continued to nudge his way through the crowd in a desperate effort to reach his lover standing up on the gallows, but just as he had finally pushed his way out, the hangman pulled the lever and both the trapdoors beneath the Pirate with a Scarf's feet opened. The first mate kept his eyes on his husband, even as he plunged through the opening below him, until the rope round his neck made a sickeningly deep twanging sound, vibrating as it had just been pulled to its full length by the weight of the scarf-wearing pirate's body.

As the crowd erupted into a massive cheer, the Pirate Captain once again just froze where he stood, unable to believe what he had just witnessed. His heart seemed to have stopped once again as he just looked up in wide-eyed shock at the Pirate with a Scarf's body swinging motionless like a pendulum in mid-air from the noose around his now broken neck. Though despite that, his eyes were now closed and his expression looked rather peaceful. To the Pirate Captain, it looked as though the first mate was merely asleep, though it was pretty clear to him now that he was dead. A roaring began in the Captain's ears, which seemed to drown out the ruckus of the cheering crowd around him, unable to take his devastated gaze away from the horrific spectacle in front of him. He could barely even hear the sound of Charles calling out to him as he too pushed his way through the now slowly dispersing crowd.

When the little scientist finally reached his friend, he too was shocked when he looked up to see what had just happened. They both gazed on in stunned silence as the Pirate with a Scarf's now lifeless body was cut down and placed into a coffin, which was then taken away by a horse-drawn cart. After said cart had vanished out of site, the Pirate Captain finally collapsed onto his hands and knees, sinking his head in grief. Charles knelt down beside him and put his hand on his quivering shoulder, indicating that the now widowed Captain was crying.

"Captain…" he said as softly as he could. "I'm so sorry."

The Captain just shook his head. "It's not your fault, Charles," he sobbed. "In fact, if anyone's to blame for this, it's me. I'm an idiot. I'm such an idiot!"

"No, don't say that, Captain," said Charles, rubbing his friend's back in an attempt to comfort him.

"But it's true, Charles!" wailed the Captain, looking up at the little scientist, who he could barely see through the tears that were just flooding from his eyes at that moment. "Number Two warned me time and time again that something like this would happen if we were to let slip our relationship, our marriage. But I never listened to him, because I was stupid enough to believe that it would never happen. Not only that, it didn't even occur to me last night when he didn't return to the boat with the rest of us that he was in danger. Not until this morning. I just assumed that he had gotten lost and that, like the clever fellow he always was, he would eventually find his way back to the boat. Now look where making assumptions has gotten us."

After finishing his speech, the Pirate Captain just burst into a fit of uncontrollable sobs all over again. Charles just continued to look down sadly at his friend as he tried to think of what else to say to try and console him.

"Well…" he began. "You did go looking for him eventually, didn't you? I mean, at least you _tried_ to to save him. It's not as if you were going to just sit idle and let him die, were you?"

"But that's pretty much what I _did _do, Charles," replied the Captain, wiping tears from his eyes. "If I had left the boat to search for him the minute I noticed he was missing, he would very likely still be living now. But I was too late. He's gone. He's gone and he's never coming back, and it's all my fault!"

Once again, the Captain just knelt were he was, sobbing his heart out for his now dead husband, as Charles stayed beside him with his hand on his shoulder. At one point, the Captain even looked down at his hands and saw the wedding ring on his finger. This only broke his heart even more, as it reminded him of the vows he took on he and the Pirate with a Scarf's wedding day, one of which that he would protect him from harm with his very life for the rest of his days. But thanks to his own recklessness, he had failed to keep that vow, and the lovers had been parted by death much earlier than they had both hoped. The Pirate Captain's weeping just continued as he brought his hand up to his mouth until the ring was pressed against his lips.

"I'm sorry, Number Two…" he said, his voice barely above a whisper thanks to his cries.

For a while, he and Charles just stayed like that until the scientists suddenly heard voices. Looking up, he saw two men not far from them staring in their direction.

"Hey, look over there!" one of them shouted, pointing towards Charles and the Captain. "Is that another pirate that's cryin' over there?"

"Looks like it," said his companion. "That must be the one that that other pirate that was just hung was sleepin' with!"

"Ugh, blimey!" said the first man, disgust could clearly be heard in his voice. Turning round, he then cupped both his hands over his mouth and began shouting, "Police! Police!"

At that moment, Charles started to worry. "Captain!" he said urgently, shaking his friend. "Captain, we've got to get out of here now!"

But the Captain didn't budge. He just stayed where he was, head sunk towards the ground in his despair.

"Captain!" Charles persisted, getting more and more flustered with each passing second as people started to regather and a couple of policemen came rushing round the corner. He kept on shaking his friend. "Captain, come on!"

"Leave me alone!" the Captain retorted, nudging the scientist's hand away.

"But, Captain!" cried Charles. "If we don't leave now, you'll be arrested! You might be next for the noose!"

"It's no more than I deserve for letting Number Two down," replied the Captain miserably.

"Don't talk like that, Captain!" shouted Charles, his frustration growing by the minute. Pulling on his friend's arm to try to get him to stand. "Come on! Let's get out of here!"

But still, the Pirate Captain didn't move an inch. He just knelt where he was with his friend pulling desperately at him until at last, the two policemen approached him.

"Are you the lover of that scarf-wearing pirate that was executed just a few minutes ago?" asked one of them.

"No, he's not!" lied Charles, his words just bursting from his mouth before he knew it. "He's just…"

"Yes," answered the Pirate Captain, cutting his friend off. Looking up towards the policemen, the Captain said, "Yes, I am."

Charles just stood frozen, his mouth agape with shock at what he had just heard. "Captain, what are you…?"

But Charles was cut off once again when the other officer questioned, "What's your name, pirate?"

"I am simply known as the Pirate Captain," answered the Captain solemnly.

"Right then, Pirate Captain," said the first officer sternly as they both took an arm each of the Captain, brought him to his feet and cuffed both his hands behind him. "You're coming with us!"

Charles watched with horror as the Captain didn't seem to resist the two policemen who were now leading him away. "B-b-but… where are you taking him?" he asked after them.

"Where do you think we're taking him?" asked one of the policemen rudely back at him. "We're putting him in the prison, where he'll stay until his trial, which may happen later on this evening. Likely he'll be joining his bum chum down in Hell come midnight."

Charles was suddenly overtaken with horror at hearing this. "No!" he shouted angrily, going up and pulling at the lapels of the coat one of the officers, trying to stop them. "I won't let you do this!"

"Get off!" snapped the policemen irritably, striking the poor scientist across the face. Charles cried out in surprise as he involuntarily let go of the officer's coat and fell backwards to the ground, rubbing his face.

"Don't try to interfere anymore or we shall be forced to arrest you too!" scolded the other policeman.

Charles just looked at the three men above him in utter shock, completely at loss as to what he was to do next.

"Charles," said the Pirate Captain back towards his friend. "Do me one last favour, eh?"

Charles looked at the Captain, the look of shock still on his face.

"Go back to the boat," the Captain went on. "Tell the lads what's happened. Tell them I'm really sorry to let them all down like this, and tell them they must leave London immediately. Tell them that I've ordered them all not to come rescue me. Tell them that I insist on this order. It'll be just like them to want to come for me whether I want them to or not. Lastly," before he finished his last sentence, he smiled sadly at his friend. "Tell the Albino Pirate to look after Polly for me."

When the Captain had finished his request, he turned back as he continued to let the two policemen lead him away towards the prison. The whole time, poor Charles could only just sit there and watch, utterly horrified, as the doors to the prison opened and the Captain was taken inside. When the two big wooden doors swung closed behind them, the little scientist finally found the strength to stand up and rushed back into the streets of London.

It was already quite late at night by the time Charles Darwin finally reached the docks. He had made many attempts as he rushed through London to get a hansom cab that would take him to the docks faster, but any he did signal to already had passengers in them. He had intended to make it back to the pirate boat quickly, to tell the crew that their beloved Captain was in grave danger and that they must rescue him. But as the hours passed before he could find his way to the docks, his hope of doing so slowly dwindled away until at last, he highly doubted that even if he did tell them, they probably wouldn't make it back to Newgate in time. So when he finally reached his destination, he just lumbered miserably towards the boat, where already, he saw the crew looking out towards the streets of London, hoping to find their two missing friends.

"Look, there's Charles Darwin!" shouted the Pirate with Gout, pointing in the direction of the little scientist when he spotted him. Immediately, the rest of the pirates turned in the direction he was pointing and saw Charles making his way towards the gangplank.

"Why does he look so sad?" asked the Albino Pirate.

"I wonder if he knows where the Pirate Captain and the Pirate with a Scarf are," said the Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate.

Charles just walked slowly up the gangplank, ignoring the eager gazes of the pirates until finally he was on the boat with them.

"Do you, Mr. Darwin?" asked the Pirate Who Likes Sunsets and Kittens. "Do you know where they are?"

Charles just let out a big sigh as he turned to face the burly pirate, giving him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry," he said. "Really, I am."

"Why? What happened?" asked the Pirate with a Hook for a Hand.

Charles just shook his head sadly before turning to face the whole crew. "I bumped into the Captain this morning," he began to explain. "He was looking frantically for the Pirate with a Scarf, who I'm sure you'll all have noticed didn't return with you here last night."

The pirates all nodded.

"So where are they now?" asked the Pirate with an Accordion.

Charles hesitated, struggling horribly to find the right way to break this bad news to his friends as gently as possible. "We split up, hoping that we would find him quicker that way," he went on. "I found the Pirate with a Scarf first, at Newgate Prison."

The pirates all gasped.

"Newgate Prison?" repeated the Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate fearfully.

Charles nodded. "He had been tried and sentenced to death for piracy… _and_ for his homosexuality," he continued. "I immediately ran back to look for the Captain. It took me hours to find him, and when I did and told him what I saw, we both rushed back to Newgate to save the Pirate with a Scarf, but…" he trailed off, his eyes sinking to the deck in sorrow.

"But what, Mr. Darwin?" asked the Pirate with Gout.

Charles sighed again, absolutely dreading having to say this next sentence: "We were too late." Looking up, he saw that the pirates now had shocked expressions on all their faces. "When we finally reached Newgate, the Captain tried to reach the gallows to get the Pirate with a Scarf, but just when he had managed to budge his way through the crowd…" he trailed off again, fighting to hold back the tears that had started to well up in his eyes. "The executioner had already pulled the lever."

The pirates all just stared at the little scientist in stunned shock.

"So, then…" the Albino Pirate began, afraid to ask his question. "Is the Pirate with a Scarf… dead?"

Charles looked at the young pirate sympathetically and nodded. "Yes," he answered. "He is."

Utterly devastated at hearing the news, the Albino Pirate just looked down towards the deck, his bottom lip trembling as he tried not to cry. The Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate saw this and put both her hands on her friend's shoulders.

"So where's the Captain?" asked the Pirate with Gout.

"He was so overcome with grief that after the Pirate with a Scarf's body was cut down and taken away, he just burst into tears," Charles went on. "We were soon spotted by two men who saw him crying and they worked out that he was the Pirate with a Scarf's lover. They had started shouting for the police. I tried to get the Captain to get up and get out of there, but he wouldn't move. When two policemen approached us, they questioned him about it and I tried to lie for him, but he flat out admitted his relationship with the Pirate with a Scarf. So they arrested him and started taking him to the prison. I tried to stop them, but…" Charles trailed off once more, when his throat seized up and the tears finally ran down his face. Taking out a handkerchief, he wiped said tears away before saying again, "I'm so sorry, everyone."

"We'd better find him and rescue him! Quick!" cried the Pirate with Gout urgently.

Though at that moment, am elderly newsman came round the corner with a bunch of newspapers, waving one copy in the air, shouting at the top of his voice, "Read all about it! Pirate Captain guilty of piracy, as well as being the lover of the previously executed Pirate with a Scarf! Pirate Captain's own execution takes place at Newgate Prison in exactly thirty minutes!"

"There's no point now," said Charles sadly. "Even after finding a hansom cab, it took us nearly an hour to reach Newgate." Turning back to face his friends, he said one last time, "I am so, so sorry everyone."

At that moment, the deafening silence was finally broken when the Albino Pirate burst into tears, burying his face in his hands as the Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate spoke words of comfort to him. The rest of the pirates however, just looked down at the wooden deck of the boat, their faces now containing grief mixed in with their shock.

Charles just looked round them all sadly. "He wanted me to tell you all that he was very sorry too, for letting you down like this," he said. Feeling something nudging him against the bottom of his leg, he looked down and saw Polly, the Pirate Captain's dodo, looking up at him with a look of sadness in her eyes. Smiling sadly, he picked her up and took her towards the Albino Pirate. The young pirate ceased his sobbing and looked up at him when he reached him, though his face was still dripping with tears and his red eyes had gotten much redder than usual.

"Here," he said, trying to muster up an encouraging smile as he handed the little dodo to his young friend. "He said you've to look after her for him." Without saying a word, the Albino Pirate took Polly from the scientist and just held her tightly in his arms, stroking her grey feathers to try and comfort himself and her.

Turning back to the rest of the crew, Charles said sternly, "He also said that you all should leave London immediately, presumably so that you don't befall the same fate."

The pirates all nodded and the Pirate with Gout and the Pirate with an Accordion went straight ahead and brought in the gangplank while the Pirate Who Likes Sunsets and Kittens hoisted up the anchor. As the night breeze began to aid the boat in its departure, Charles and the pirates went up to the stern and continued to watch London as the boat slowly sailed away from it, until it finally disappeared behind the thick fog. Even after the boat had left the Thames and was now on open sea once more, they still kept their saddened gazes in its direction, some of them even mustering up the courage to say goodbye to their now departed friends. Feeling that things wouldn't be the same without their beloved Captain, and certainly not his trusty second-in-command either, there would be no more adventures for the rag-tag crew of pirates from that moment on; this was to be their final one.


End file.
